In recent years, the trend to urbanization and mechanization of our society has been a factor in decreasing the amount of exercise in which society members engage. Physician and fitness experts nowadays are concerned with good health and a regular program of physical exercise for all ages. This problem is acute for the urban dweller residing in limited space areas and the elderly also facing these various problems. In an effort to provide home facilities to overcome lack of exercise area and provide an affordable means of obtaining a positive program of exercise activities, various knockdown and collapsible exercising devices have been introduced.
Most prior art devices have not been satisfactory in that collapsible devices must be stored to of sight and devices which store the exercise apparatus are bulky or cumbersome.
Still further, heretofore exercises for body or muscle building have required the use of several different types of benches and related components in order for the exerciser to work on strengthening all of his body muscles. These several units have generally comprised a sit-up board, a flat bench, an inclined bench, leg extension rollers, a declined bench, a deep-knee bench, a bench press, and means for dips. Heretofore, a few of these units have been combined in a single bench, for example, a flat bench can have a part movable from a flat position to an inclined position thus combining in one unit flat and inclined benches; or a flat bench can include leg extension rollers or a bench press, but until the present invention there has never been a body building bench which has incorporated all of the standard exercising units enumerated above
A multiplicity of combination exercise devices are presently known and used.
The simplest of these combination devices are those which allow the performance of only a few exercises. They generally comprise a basic exercise bench which is usually adjustable with a leg exercise machine usually at the foot of the bench. Resistance weights can be attached to the leg machine depending upon the amount of resistance required by the user. Also a barbell support means is generally adapted to the machine. These devices limit the scope of the body exercises which can be performed.
The next class of combination multi-gym devices contain an additional attachment known as a dip bar attached to telescopic supports which can also be used as squat racks allowing for an increased number of exercises using a barbell supported by a saddle adjacent each of the dip bars. Although it is claimed by the manufacturers of these multi-gym devices that a persons whole body can be exercised with these machines they are not technologically advanced by comparison to the present invention as they do not provide the practical benefits of the free weight concept in body building. Modern day body building demands precision machines which can allow the resistance provided by the weights at each station to be correctly imposed commensurate with the abilities of a particular muscle when it is in a particular exercise mode. Improperly applied weight resistance can lead to a decrease in efficiency of muscle building from exercise.
The more advanced combination multi-gym devices also have attached to them a lat machine which in combination with dead weights at the end of a pulley allow exercise of muscles in the upper torso region of the body and in particular the arms.
The manufacturers and distributors of these lat machines boast simulated free weight motion of the resistance weights as the exercise is carried out, however, the desired concept in weight lifting and muscle building is actual rather than simulated free weight motion wherein drag from the dead weights which are usually pin weights is eliminated and counterweight resistance to the muscle is correctly applied.
The leg machines of the more simple combination multi-gym devices also rely on the dead weight principle to provide resistance for the leg muscles when performing the various leg exercises.
As with the lat machines of the prior art dead weight drag is also a problem with the leg machine as the resistance is not efficiently applied to the leg muscles throughout the range of motion.
In weightlifting exercises, the inertia or inertial resistance of the weight load must first be overcome before the exercise progresses.
Ideally, the resistance weight should be no heavier than the maximum force of the weakest muscle acting in the particular exercise movement to be accomplished.
During an exercise, the amount of force generated during contraction of the muscle varies throughout all the phases of the movement. Consequently, the maximum level of strength of the muscle occurs close to full contraction. In the prior art exercise machines it has been found that for certain exercises, the drag is at a maximum at the commencement of a muscle exercise, when the muscle is usually extended and thus at its weakest. This phenomenon is undesirable and its existence prevents physiologically efficient muscle building.
The presently known multi-gym devices do not allow application of the true free weight concept due to the geometry of the various machines incorporated in the overall device and due to the resistance weight functionality.
Among the more versatile combination multi-gym devices available there are those which incorporate facilities in most of the known stations for weight lifting exercises such as shoulder presses, chest presses, leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, latisimus pull, chinning up, roman bench exercises, abdominal exercises, dip bar exercises, knee raisers and squatting exercises.
Although stations allowing these exercises and more are incorporated in known machines, these machines tend to be costly, space taking, and difficult to transport.
They are also large, cumbersome and complex devices and because of their size and complexity are generally used in commercial gymnasiums or health clubs and so consequently they are not suited for use in the domestic environment because of these features, unlike the present invention.
It is possible to obtain exercise devices which allow for the development and exercise of one area of the body but these devices do not constitute a full body exercise device which is the most desirable apparatus to have.
Folding exercise machines sometimes combine a number of the commonly known exercise machines such as the lat machine, the versatile bench, the leg machine and the barbell set for performing a large range of weight training exercises.
However, in order for such devices to be folded and stored a number of the elements of the device must be removed from the mainframe structure. This device is generally designed to be sold as a complete package or for assembly by the consumer and disassembly when transportation or removal is required.
Furthermore, these devices do not overcome the problem of initial weight drag due to friction and also due to the inertia of the weights, and do not provide for a variation in weight resistance throughout the exercise motion commensurate with muscle strength at a particular point in the exercise.
It is also undesirable to set up a lat machine for operation by the addition of weights on the end of a pulley for the aforesaid reasons, as this results in a linear force application against which the exerciser must work.
Therefore, there is a need for a versatile exercise device which overcomes the aforesaid problems by providing an improved combination exercise gymnasium of relatively simple construction suitable for use in the home or gymnasium and which is foldable into a compact and portable unit adapted with wheels, and which combines the various machines suitable for exercising all zones of the body and which has improved configurational and operational geometry such that muscular improvement can be achieved in the most efficient manner as a result of correct or constant weight resistance application during particular exercises.
The modern trend in serious (e.g., competitive and commercial grade) exercise equipment is to have many different exercise units, each of which is specialized for a particular exercise. These are usually either non-adjustable, or are so inconvenient to adjust that they are adjusted only occasionally (i.e., upon set-up, or once per workout). Many of them just do not provide for quick readjustment during a particular working session or for multiple exercises at the same station. For example, a typical power bench is a simple, non-adjustable, flat bench, having a tipover bar, and designed just for flat bench presses.
Multiple-function benches are also known, of course. However, the additional functions which are available on such units are usually obtained at the expense of sturdiness and/or versatility. That is, in order to combine several functions into a single unit, prior art solutions have often been forced to accept certain user limitations. This means that the utility of such units for serious weight lifting can be greatly compromised. This can be seen from the fact that most commercial equipment, as has been discussed above, continues to be single-function—even though equipping a gym with such equipment can be far more expensive than would be necessary if suitable multi-functional equipment could be found.
A need therefore remains for a heavy duty exercise bench which, in a single, integrated unit, can function as an easily adjustable and versatile bench readily suited for many different exercises, different exercise weights, and different body sizes.